Britannia Lost
by Cherokee Bonnefoy-Jones
Summary: Scotland thinks back to the day his mother died. The Danish invasion of Britannia. Summary sucks, but those who know me know the story is WAY better than this crap. Character death, blood, and minor swearing. Just gonna have this under Family. And I'm once again sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth.


Cherokee: Hey. Sorry for not having next to ANYTHING these last several months. I just have no ideas for existing stories! *cries* There is some background info here, so might as well give it. Denmark invaded England back around the 800's, this is also about the time England became known by that very name. France was his own nation by this time as well, so I'm sure many of the others were, thus explaining what Den says. But, as we all know from history, Byzantium/Mama Greece is the last of them.

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He and his mother were always together. She took him everywhere. Of course, she had to since the option of leaving him with his father wasn't possible. His father was on the mainland with his older brothers. But now he wished the man was here. He would give anything to see his mother and father now as he ran from the house. _"Arthur, you have to be good for Mummy. Mummy needs you to run. Can you do that?" _He had just nodded, confused and not understanding what was going on. He just kept running, deeper and deeper into the woods, tears streaming from his eyes, sure he'd never see his mother again. He would never see her kind eyes look down on him as he hugged her, would never see that smile that let him know everything would be alright, would never get another good night kiss, and would never hear her soft voice sing him to sleep on those stormy nights. Where were his brothers? Where had Wales gone off to?

Suddenly, the lad ran into a pair of sturdy legs and fell onto his back. Looking up, he saw it was his oldest brother, Scotland. It was odd of him, but he got up and held onto his brother's legs, crying harder. "What's tha matter, lad? Why aren' ye with Mum?"

"M- Mum's - She told me to - "

"Told ye what, lad?"

"Told me to run."

Run? The last time he'd heard that was when Rome had invaded, getting stuck behind a wall as a result. Stupid Rome. "Stay here. I'll see if I can't do something. There's a faerie ring around here. Wait for me there, understand, lad?" Arthur nodded and went looking for the circle. Scotland had a problem with people invading their island. Yes, it may have been necessary for progress, but it did so much damage to those that lived there.

Running to the house he used to call home, he saw two younger boys. One looked uncertain of what they were doing, but the other didn't seem to care. They had just left and he went inside, mortified at what he found once he opened the door. His mother laid on the floor soaked in her own blood. What the hell? She couldn't - No! He refused to believe it. Scotland ran over to her side and held her in his arms. "Mum! Mum, please!" he begged. God, he sounded like a child. Where was Germania? He should have been there to stop this from happening. "Please, Mum, don't be dead."

She coughed some, blood trailing down her cheek. "Iain? Iain, love, is that you?"

"A- Aye, Mum."

"Shh. Mummy's fine." How could he tell her that she wasn't? Nothing about this was fine! Why wasn't she starting to heal?! "Where's . . . . Arthur?" she asked in a heavy voice.

"Safe in tha woods."

Nodding, she placed a hand to her oldest's face, wiping a stray tear away. "Now, love, you shouldn't let Mummy see you cry. Can you do a favor for your old mother?"

"Anything. I promise, wha'ever it is, I swear to do it."

"Good. That's Mummy's big boy. I need you to take care of your brothers - especially Arthur. He's too young to be alone. Can you do that for me?"

"Aye. I promise."

He watched as she closed her eyes one last time and drew her final breath. This was the end for her. She was joining Egypt and Rome, ready to see them again after so many centuries. He was determined not to break a promise to his mum. She was all he'd ever had, then Rome ripped her away from him when he was still a child. Returning to the woods, he reached the faerie circle, but the boy was nowhere to be found, no matter how hard he looked. How could he have lost him so easily. Then he heard one of the boys from earlier boasting about capturing England for his own. No! He'd already failed her.

"Let me go! I'll tell my vati you're picking on me, then you'll be sorry!"

" 'Vati'? You mean you're Onkel Germania's rat?"

"I'm not a rat!"

"Sorry, to tell you, but all the Gamle are dead." Arthur's face dropped at this information, as did Iain's. They couldn't be! Their mum couldn't have been the last one. Byzantium had to still be alive. Lies. It had to be all a lie.

Attack or don't attack. Seemed simple enough to Scotland. But if he did, he'd set off a war with these two. That was the last thing he needed. Why did this have to be so hard? He didn't want a war, yet he had to keep a promise. There was still Wales to look after, too. Abandon one brother to protect another? It didn't seem fair, but it was the best way to maintain some semblance of peace on their island. He remembered when it was just him and his mum, but that had gone a long time ago. Knowing he'd regret it, he walked away from his defenseless baby brother and went looking for Wales. He was most likely in his own country talking with his own clans.

Arthur looked back at the woods and saw his big brother walking away from him. His heart sank. So his brother didn't care after all. Fine by him. He didn't need anyone anyway.

~~~~~Present Day~~~~~

Maybe THAT'S where he'd gone wrong with his brother, Scotland mused. That was probably the start of all of England's problems. That one day.


End file.
